Creative Beauty Along Route 66

A Public Art Tour in Albuquerque

Albuquerque is one of the world’s richest centers for heritage and visual culture. As the urban center of New Mexico, Albuquerque’s wide building facades and dense streets lend themselves to the continuing traditions of murals. Public art allows for people to express their unique perspective on the history of their neighborhood and to honor the beauty of the location through public decoration. Route 66 in Albuquerque is home to many vibrant murals and sculptures. Public artworks dot the cityscape, becoming one with the street, grabbing your attention and encouraging you to consider your location meaningfully.

An image of the aluminum yucca near Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Aluminum Yucca

Artist Gordon Huether designed and installed the Aluminum Yucca at the far east Central Avenue gateway in 2003. The 22-foot tall yucca sculpture is made of recycled aluminum fuel tanks from an F-16 military aircraft. The leaves were cut to resemble the native Datil Yucca. At night, the Aluminum Yucca is illuminated with rich desert hues.

The Hand of Friendship

Taos Modernist Ted Egri created the Hand of Friendship sculpture in 1968 as a commission for the Albuquerque Beautification Committee. The 16-foot tall sculpture sits in La Luz de Amistad park on Central Avenue and Tramway Boulevard. Egri designed the “Hand” to serve as a memorial to Albuquerque’s intersecting histories, combining the Zia symbol and an atom structure. At the center is an open hand, serving as a welcoming gesture to visitors.

Orphan Signs (various locations)

The Friends of the Orphan Signs is an art collective based in Albuquerque that saves abandoned roadside signs and reactivates them with art. The group focuses on Route 66, as Central Avenue remains a popular thoroughfare with diverse living communities. They strive to put up artworks that are engaged with the communities they stand in while preserving Route 66 history for the public to enjoy. These signs are viewable from your vehicle or the sidewalk.

Locations:

4119 Central Ave NE
4501 Central Ave NE
6720 Central Ave NE

Reels and Hot Wheels

In front of the historic Hiland Theatre is a sculpture that functions as a bus stop and photo op. Artist Howard Meehan constructed Reels and Hot Wheels in 2016 as part of a multi-state call for public art on Route 66. The monumental “66” emerges from the sidewalk, complete with seating and shade. The structure evokes filmstrip spools and “hot” automobile wheels, nodding to the Hiland Theatre’s cinematic past and Albuquerque’s bright future in the film industry. At night, the inside of the artwork/bus shelter is illuminated with solar-powered LEDs.

Cultural Crossroads of the Americas

This rusted-steel sculpture stands in Yale Park directly behind the University of New Mexico bookstore. Chiricahua Apache/Diné/Chicano artist, Bob Haozous, created “Cultural Crossroads” in 1996 to look like a typical billboard one might see on the roadside. One half of the main charrette of the artwork depicts pre-Columbian style figures in a procession, referencing Aztec codices. The other half shows the Albuquerque skyline, each building topped with a symbol and an “End of Trail” figure at the bottom. The bottom of the charrette is lined with cars and trucks and airplanes float above. The artwork explores complicated histories within Albuquerque’s mixed cultural context.

Untitled [Lowrider with Prickly Pear]

Painted by the Albuquerque-based Diné/Chicana artist Nani Chacon, this mural on the east-facing facade of the new ARRIVE Hotel Albuquerque (701 Central Ave NW) greets visitors as they exit the Downtown Core into Raynolds Addition. A red lowrider – a classic car customized to drive slow and low to the ground – is enveloped by the native prickly pear cactus (nopal in Spanish). Every Sunday night, Burqueños shine their car hoods and take their lowriders out for a cruise through Downtown. The event has become a neighborhood institution and reflects New Mexico’s rich custom car culture, decades in the making.

Sidewalk Society

Just a couple of blocks off of Central Avenue, you can come across a group of people frozen in time in front of the Clyde Hotel. Glenna Goodacre, the sculptor and designer behind the Vietnam Women’s Memorial in Washington, D.C., was commissioned to create the bronze sculpture by the City of Albuquerque. The sculptures were erected in 1991. Sidewalk Society depicts eight individuals in a moving scene, from a young boy doing an “ollie” on a skateboard to a dapper gentleman in a cowboy hat pointing toward the Civic Plaza.

Yei Be Chei Central

Located just past the 4th Street and Central Avenue “criss-cross,” the Yei Be Chei steel mural brings vibrant color to the Downtown corridor. Welder and artist Jake Lovato created the steel “mural” for the School of Rock center in the Freed Building in 2003. “Yei Be Chei” is Diné (Navajo) for “Grandfather Spirits.” These figures represent the beings that taught the Diné how to live harmoniously with the land and universe.

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Mother Road Turns 100

Garcia’s Kitchen Mural

On the far side of Garcia's Cafe, a cartoon mural stretches around the corner depicting icons of Albuquerque’s Route 66. Garcia’s was founded in 1975 by Andrew Garcia on 4th Street, the old alignment of Route 66. The Central Avenue location is the site of this iconic mural. Armando Diaz repainted the mural, adding new details and refreshing old ones, in 2017. It depicts a fantastical Albuquerque, complete with Old West commercial buildings, a Pueblo building with hornos, a hot air balloon flying the New Mexico flag, several dancing Kokopellis, the Continental Divide sign, rattlesnakes, a red vintage automobile, anthropomorphic red and green chile peppers, and a sweeping map of New Mexico's 66.

West Central Route 66 Crossing Sign

On West Central Avenue, near Western View Steakhouse, is the iconic Route 66 Crossing Sign: a neon arch with the Route 66 shield. By day, the arch reflects the surrounding desert color with terracotta browns, sky blues and rusty reds. At night, the arch lights up in classic neon hues in a stepped geometry, evoking mesas and traditional Native American designs.